


Of Jackets and Jams

by Solariac



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, Jacket Sharing Trope, Most tagged characters are only mentioned, Post-Steven Universe: The Movie, Steven Universe Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:20:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22390933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solariac/pseuds/Solariac
Summary: Five times Steven impulsively gave his jacket to Connie, and one time he did on accident.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 19
Kudos: 129





	Of Jackets and Jams

1.

Large crystalline flakes of snow danced down from the puffy wintery skies above, and the bittercold wind whipped at the nearby trees. Two silhouettes marched through the endless sea of white, the smaller of the two a few steps ahead of the other. The smaller one slowed down in her steps to let her partner catch up so the two were walking side by side.

"This is dumb." Steven stated flatly, his brows creasing in his growing frustration.

"Don't be like that, we'll find her again soon." Connie encouraged with a friendly nudge on his shoulder. 

"We've been at it since twelve, and it's going on seven now!" He groaned and dragged his gloved palms down his face. "It's just… pointless."

He was right though. They  _ had  _ been out since earlier that day and have had little to no luck at encountering the small corrupted gem let alone  _ capture _ it. Who knew that catching some lost and corrupted gem-bunny was going to be so difficult? Connie sighed sharply, her breath steaming in the cold air. It was hard enough to find anything in the Great North, but finding a little white gem might as well be impossible. She couldn't tell Steven that. He was already close to giving up as it is.

The two continued to trek through the snow in silence, the wordless air only filled by the crunching of their boots against the ground. Connie snuggled herself further into the pink scarf that Steven had loaned her before they left as the cold air continued to nip at her cheeks. Snow was starting to fall even harder, erasing any possible leads that could've been left behind.

Connie raised a hand over her squinted eyes and scanned the land around them. There were rocks, snow covered rocks, more rocks… and trees. That's all they've been seeing for the past seven hours. Such pretty scenery wouldn't be so disappointing had she not been cold. A faint rustle several yards away caught her attention, and her dark eyes snapped to the bushes at the bottom of the hill that they were on. A small bunny that matched the word for word details of Garnet's description hopped out from the safety of the shrubbery.

_ Bingo. _

"Come on, Steven!" Connie suddenly hissed, pointing right in the direction of the white bunny with one eye. The boy's eyes traced her finger, and his mouth mocked the sharp 'o' of surprise. He nodded at her, and at once, they both started to sprint in the direction of the creature. Steven took the longer approach by jumping off the top of the hill and silently floating to the area above it while Connie tackled the slope directly. All they had to do was corner the little guy and poof it, then they could finally go home. It was one bunny against two Crystal Gems, how hard could it possibly be?

_ According to logistics and her current luck, very hard. _

Right as her foot slammed down on the downward slope, a patch of covered ice made itself known and caused her to lose balance entirely. The teenager was sent crashing down into the snow, and tumbled the rest of the way to the bottom. At least, well, she  _ didn't  _ reach the bottom of the slope before Steven swooped in and picked her up mid fall.

"Connie, are you okay?!" Steven shouted aloud in worry, his eyes gleaming in concern.

"I'm fine." She answered hastily, though that wasn't the entire truth. Her scarf had come unwrapped and snow ended up getting in her jacket and shirt, some of it even touching her skin. The cold she thought she was numb to was actually settling in now. "Just a little c-cold." Connie mumbled before snuggling in closer to his chest. 

"You're shaking- hold on." Steven sighed softly and set her down. He began to fumble with his pink jacket to her own bewilderment.

"What are you-"

The varsity jacket was suddenly draped over her shoulders, and Connie was only given two seconds to process that before he scooped her up in his arms again.  _ So much for walking. _ Her brain short-circuited for a moment, as all it could think about was how much the jacket smelled like strawberries and felt like happiness if it had a physical form. The situation finally came back to her, causing her to glare up at him in realization.

"St-Steven! You can't give me your jacket,  _ you'll _ get cold!" She protested, but her actions seemingly betrayed her own thoughts. Out of instinct, she had already gone back to leaning in closer to his chest. How dare her brain give up because of some warm and comfortable teen? "What about the corrupted gem?" Connie complained with a frown. He was throwing away their only chance they've gotten all day to catch the crafty little thing.

"Too late, I already gave it to you. As for the corrupted gem, she's probably gone, doesn't matter though." He shrugged nonchalantly. 

"Weren't you  _ just  _ complaining about not being able to catch it a few minutes ago?" She shot back, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. 

"Like I said, it doesn't matter. You're cold, so we're going home before you get sick."

Connie crossed her arms and buried her cheek into the soft and warm fabric of his jacket. "Am I not allowed to walk now too?" She teased lightly. Well, it's not like she  _ wanted  _ to walk when Steven was in the mood to carry her anyways. She wouldn't admit it to his face though, she liked being surprised.

"I don't want to risk you getting any colder until we get back to the temple." He grumbled without meeting her eyes. Connie noticed a faint pink blush dusting his cheeks and snorted, now accepting her fate.

"Whatever you say, tough guy."

\--

2.

Connie knew that the mini concert would start at nightfall, but honestly she forgot that even the winds of Beach City could get cold in the fall. The concert hadn't started, yet she was already starting to feel minor chills. Several regrets were already apparent in her mind, the biggest one being the fact that she didn't bring along her own jacket. 

"Conniiiie!" The deep yet calming voice of Steven erupted in her ear as the boy jogged up to her side. "Sorry for being late, I got caught up in my own work and didn't see the time." He apologized sincerely, and scratched sheepishly behind his head. 

"It's okay! I've only been here for like a minute." Connie reassured while dismissively waving her hand. She immediately went back to crossing her arms, her hands rubbing at her exposed elbows to warm them from the oncoming breeze.

Steven took notice of her actions almost directly after she made them, and his smile shifted into a frown. "You didn't bring a jacket." He pointed out bluntly, his eyes scanning her form up and down. "You aren't even wearing _long_ _sleeves_ to the beach." 

"I didn't think it was going to get chilly tonight, I'll get over it." Connie admitted while flushing in embarrassment. It took Steven a matter of seconds to figure out the one thing wrong with her tonight, but she wasn't surprised at all. "I'll forget about it as soon as Sadie and the Suspects blasts the cold away, am I right?" She moved her hand away and elbowed him in his side. Steven was not as amused.

As if the response from her was some kind of distress beacon, Steven ripped his jacket off of him and dropped it on top of her crossed arms. "There you go, and, uh, no takebacks! It's the arms rule." He placed his hands on his hips and grinned brightly.

Connie blinked owlishly at the sudden weight on top of her arms and then huffed dejectedly. The scent of fresh strawberries smacked her right upside the head again, reminding Connie that she _ really _ needed to ask what detergent he washed his jacket with. "I guess chivalry isn't dead after all." She snorted half to herself while rolling her eyes. "I don't even know what the arms rule is, Steven." 

Steven had already started blushing again, and hid behind his hand. "It means that once I take it off of my arms with the intention of giving it to someone else, they legally can't give it back." He turned his head to where he was no longer facing in her direction. "Giving it back would be breaking Jam Bud Law, Connie. It isn't worth it."

"Good thing I love wearing your jacket. It feels nice and always smells really sweet." Connie shrugged, already in the process of slipping her arms into the sleeves of the jacket. There was a brief pause as Steven slowly turned to look at her again in confusion. Scarlet flushed against her cheeks as she realized that yes, she certainly said that second part aloud instead of just thinking about it.

"Wait, what?"

Static feedback from the mic on stage echoing through the speakers caused them both to cringe, but it caught their attention nonetheless. Good timing if she'd say so herself. Explaining what she meant would most likely be embarrassing.

"How's it going, citizens of Beach City?!" Sadie shouted over the speakers. Countless yells and whoops of encouragement rose from both gathered gems and humans alike. Connie grinned while shoving her left hand into the pocket of the jacket. "Great! Now who's ready to get this concert started?" The short girl on stage continued to rile up the crowd while pumping up a fist.

Connie and Steven exchanged joyful glances and raised one fist each to the sky. They both responded with their own howls of excitement as the band started to play the starting notes to their first song. As soon as it started to pick up, they simultaneously yelled the lyrics along with the band and the crowd.

Somewhere between song two and three, Connie's hand had left her pocket and slid into Steven's own hand. How? She doesn't know, but she doesn't dare question it either. All she could focus on now was the blaring of the music, and the warmth of his jacket shielding her frame from the chilled ocean breeze.

Their hands remained clasped with one another until the end of the last song. Both teenagers sputtered and blushed as it sank in that yes, they've been holding hands for about an entire hour. The real question was if both of them knew from the start, but chose not to say anything. Neither of them dared to mention it from the time the concert ended to the time Steven dropped Connie off at her house after she begrudgingly gave his jacket back to him.

\--

3.

Steven had convinced Connie to attend one of Lapis and Peridot's art classes with him on one particular morning that they both were free. It was a nice day outside, so the class itself was being held in the center of Little Homeworks. Steven seemed giddy for this one in particular because not only were both gems teaching at the same time, but it appeared that they had raided some old abandoned autoshop for a ton of different materials from car doors to car parts. 

"Meepmorps are subjective! There's no right or wrong way to make them!" Peridot's nasally voice carried over the quiet conversations of the gathered class. Connie herself snapped from her thoughts and craned her head to look at the green gem. "That being said, today we'll be painting with these different paints we found." 

A can with what looked like it had black paint dried on the side hovered in front of them. Steven and Connie glanced at their own pre-placed can of blue paint and shrugged. If it works, it works, though she's not too confident on what painting with one color was going to do.

"We'll be working in partners today, which is why both of us are teaching your class." Lapis explained with a nod at her pupils, and Peridot shot her a side grin. The shorter gem took the initiative and moved to dip her brush in the opened can.

"For starters, think about-" The green gem was interrupted as the paint moved away from her outstretched paintbrush. "Hey!" Peridot shouted in offense, the metal can wobbling in the air a bit. "I was about to use that, Lapis! Get your  _ own _ paint." She jerked the can in her own direction.

_ Connie could tell that this was… not going to end well. _

"We're sharing the same can  _ and  _ canvas for class!" Lapis objected, lifting the paint higher from the can.

"I'm  _ trying  _ to paint!"

"You were keeping the paint drawn in to yourself, you  _ know  _ I don't use paintbrushes, and need access to the can too!"

"Well  _ I _ was using it first."

Connie shot an unamused glance at Steven, the latter exchanging a weary smile back. Apparently Lapis and Peridot still got into spats without Bismuth around. "Let's just… ignore them? She whispered to him, and he nodded with a grunt of agreement. 

"I  _ need  _ it!"

Two brushes dipped into the blue paint, but they both stopped as the argument continued to escalate. Steven threw his head back with a groan, and abandoned his paintbrush to the sea of paint. "They're not going to stop. Hold on, I'll calm them down." He sighed in disappointment. 

"It's not your responsibility to-" Connie began, but Steven had already gotten up and started walking toward the gems, leaving no room for her intervention.

"Guys!" He shouted while waving his hands at them. The two paid no kind to his shout and gesture, opting to argue instead. "Hey!" He tried again, but to no avail did they listen.

"You're hoarding the paint again!"

"How about you just-" / "Don't tell me what to-"

The pull from both metallic and liquid sides snapped, and the can somehow exploded from the overwhelming pressure. Both of the two instructors yelped in surprise as black droplets were sent flying everywhere. Steven flew into action by jumping up and raising his hand into the air. His pink shield was summoned and at a rather large size and tossed in order to shield the rest of the Homeschool students.

Crisis avoided, or at least it  _ kind of  _ was avoided.

Steven gave her a thumbs up, and Connie returned the gesture. His shield, which was now covered in a layer of drying black on the outside, sparkled as it was despawned. 

Steven forgot one major hole in his plan. Paint is not magic. It does not despawn with his shield even if it came in contact with it.

Realizing his mistake, Steven screeched. "Oh no, watch out for the paint please! Lapis! Peridot!" 

Lapis and Peridot hopped back into the action now that their little fight was over. Most of the paint was froze in midair at the raise of Lapis' hand while Peridot launched an empty paint can up to scoop the suspended liquid back in. There were still some stray dots here and there, but for the most part, the majority of it had been contained. Connie breathed out a sigh of relief, and rested her hand on her hip.

Luck was not on her side today either. She noticed a second too late that a droplet of black paint had been resting on the palm of her hand. The teenager squeaked, quickly flinging her right hand into the air and away from her hip. A smeared trail of black ran from the pocket of her jean shorts to the bottom edge of her blue and white patterned shirt. 

"Close one, am I right Conn- oh boy." Steven had floated down next to her, and cringed at the stain now very obviously displayed on her clothing.

"Oh my gosh, my Mom's going to kill me for getting a stains on both my shirt  _ and  _ shorts." Connie's groaned in dread, her only clean hand slowly dragging down her cheek.

"Wait, I can fix it! Here, put this on so no one sees it. I'll wash it when we get back to my house!" Steven reassured and suddenly crouched next to her. In a matter of seconds, his jacket was off, and she felt his arms wrap around her waist. Her face started to flush brightly again at the thought of his strong yet gentle arms wrapped around her.

"There we go!" Steven shouted as he stood back up to full height with a grin. "...Connie?" He asked out of concern as his companion continued staring off into space. Connie fell out of her stupor again and looked down at her hips.  _ Real world now, fantasy later. _ His pink jacket had been neatly tied around her, the fabric easily covering up the messy stains beneath it. 

"Thanks, Steven." She mumbled with a soft smile cresting her face.

She was starting to notice a pattern. Steven had a tendency to give up his jacket for her at a moment's notice, though she couldn't really understand why. He loved his jacket, he never spent an entire day without it on. This was the third time he gave it up for her. 

She wasn't complaining. She'd never complain.

\--

4.

Steven invited Connie over to his place to rewatch the Dogcopter trilogy on its anniversary. It had been their favorite movie around the time they first met, so it was a pretty nice idea. She was way ahead on college prep, and he had shoved aside an entire evening's plans to set up this movie night with her. 

This was one of the special occasions where Steven would let himself snack a bit. A bowl of popcorn rested between the two of them, as every movie night  _ had  _ to have popcorn. They still overreacted and each and every fake explosion or corny joke, and Steven (not admittingly) cried at the first major plot twist despite this being the tenth time he's seen the first movie. 

"I'm so happy for him!" He would cry out while Connie shook her head and snickered at him, rubbing small comforting circles on his back. 

They were already mostly through the first movie, and the bowl of popcorn was empty. Connie had moved it to the side, as the side of the bowl was starting to dig into her side. It must've started going on ten by then, as the moon gleamed through the screen door in his room. 

She turned around to grab the blanket off of Steven's bed, but Steven grabbed wrist and brought it back to her lap. 

"Nope, I  _ always  _ have the solution in situations like this." He announced smugly and grabbed his jacket that had been almost  _ too _ conveniently laid on his opposite side.

"You know, it's not nearly cold enough for you to give up your jacket this time. There was a blanket  _ right  _ there." Connie commented, but put the jacket on anyways as soon as he handed it to her. The way the oversized fabric rested upon her skin felt better than any contact a blanket could offer. 

"I Iike seeing you wear it, you're cute." He stated almost matter-of-factly.

"...I'm what?"

Steven stared at her blankly before a look of horror crossed his face. "I meant it's cute! You in my jacket- No, wait! I didn't mean-" He picked up the nearest pillow and started the scream into it, his face red all the way up to the tips of his ears.

Connie snorted loudly and broke into a fit of giggles.  _ He was so cute when he panicked over her.  _ Her mind replayed what he was panicking over. He thought she looked cute in his jacket. He thought  _ she _ was cute. The thought alone made her blush harder, but her laughter never stopped. Steven eventually joined in on her laughing session, his face still tinted a bright red. 

She wasn't sure of when they stopped laughing, even as the ending of Dogcopter 3 played in the background. They laughed and teased each other all the way until her chest hurt, and she couldn't remember the details of their night anymore. All she remembered before falling asleep was the familiar and comforting scent of freshly grown strawberries on a peaceful night. 

-

When Pearl checked on them the next morning, they spotted Steven and Connie huddled together and leaning against the edge of his bed, his pink jacket draped around both of them as the blankets lay abandoned beside them. They both held traces of a smile, Steven's head resting on Connie's shoulder and her head was pillowed by his hair. 

Pearl raised her phone to the scene and snapped a photo of them. She'd show this photo to them in the morning after she showed it off to Garnet. Not wanting to disturb them any further, Pearl silently snuck back out of the room, her mouth now upturned into a smile of her own.

\--

5.

Connie huffed out an exhausted breath as she panted heavily, her sword planted in the ground beside her as she crouched with her palm wrapped around the hilt. Sweat and rain plastered stray strands of her hair to her forehead even though she had tied it back into a low ponytail. The mix of liquids splashed off of her and onto the ground, and she wiped an across her forehead in an attempt to clear some of it from her face. 

"Very nice session, Connie! If you're free next week, I'd love to have your help in teaching my fencing class." Pearl tutted proudly as she approached, practically unphased by the falling rain. 

"Of course, ma'am!" Connie puffed in between breaths. She right herself to she was back to standing, but the rain continued to pour down on her. A tiny sneeze from Connie caught Pearl's full attention, and the pale gem frowned.

"Come on, we don't need your fragile human immune system getting ill because it started raining. Let's get you home." Pearl fretted, putting an arm around her shoulders. She led her right to the steps, but right as they were a quarter of the way up, the chime of the warp activating intrigued both of them. No gems really came up here, at least not while a training session was happening.

"By any chance, were you supposed to have another session today, Pearl?" Connie asked.

Pearl tilted her head and shrugged. "No, I never have another lesson on the same day as you."

Low and behold, Steven popped his head into the arena with his shield poised over his head like an umbrella. His eyes locked with Connie's, and he waved his raised hand, the shield moving with it. That explained a lot, actually, but he was still too late to watch them spar. He usually didn't have time to watch their sessions anyways, so she wondered what the occasion was.

"Connie!" Steven whined from where he stood, but she didn't miss the sparkle in his eyes. "You're soaked!" He hopped down the stairs, and Pearl took a few steps to the side so he could take her place. His shield stayed above him, but now he expanded it to where the rain no longer assaulted her. His jacket wasn't  _ on  _ him, as it was balled up in the crook of his free arm that wasn't holding up the shield.

"I'm sorry Steven, I didn't know that it was supposed to rain today." Pearl apologized while clasping her hands together. "We got a bit carried away and couldn't find a good stopping point for our fight in time."

"It's okay, Pearl! I came prepared for this exact situation!" He chipped in heartily, and extended his arm out to where he offered the jacket to Connie. This was getting predictable if she was going to be honest, but that didn't mean that it wasn't the cutest thing he's ever done. Not wanting to keep him waiting, she picked up the jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Despite not really being cold, she felt a thousand times warmer already.

"Just the shield would've been fine and you know it." She teased, and pulled the jacket tighter around her drenched attire.

"You're soaked, and my jacket is nice and dry. It's only the right thing to do for my knight who works oh so hard in the worst of weathers for me." He held up his pointer finger as if he were giving her a lecture. 

"How did you know it was going to rain here? Did you seriously check the weather just for me?" She rolled her eyes and glanced at him expectantly. Not even  _ Pearl  _ knew it was supposed to rain at this hour.

"Huh? Oh!" He looked confused for a moment only to understand what she was asking. "No no, Garnet told me that your training session was going to be 'a wash'." Steven recalled while also adding in air quotes with his fingers. 

Connie let her forehead fall into her palm with a wet slap. She made a mental note to both thank and scold Garnet later. 

\--

+1

Steven never really had much time to spend with her anymore. Trust her, she's tried getting ahold of him several times within the last month, but they've only hung out once and it was just to get dinner. After almost an entire month of nudging, he had finally cleared a day to come over to her place and at least hang out for a little bit.

In her own honest opinion, Steven looked absolutely  _ wrecked  _ thanks to the noticeable dark circles hanging under his eyes and slouched posture. She had approached him out of concern upon seeing his state, but he waved her off with his usual (tired) smile. Connie didn't bother him much about his own life while he was there, he'd talk when he's ready and she knew it.

He was relatively quiet the entire visit. Connie talked (and ranted) about the college prep she had gotten herself into. Steven would nod along and offer his own words of advice despite not knowing too much about a traditional public school's curriculum. It was nice seeing him again, and he even seemed like himself as he talked her through some of the issues she ran up on. Something was off though, and she knew that he was being dodgy on purpose.

Connie had hoped that talking about her problems would open up an opportunity to talk about his, but he ignored every probe and kept digging into her personal frustrations instead.

What  _ really  _ bothered her was how abnormal his behavior was during dinner.

She had informed both her mom and dad that Steven was taking the vegetarian path now, so it became a collective agreement to not have any sort of meat while the boys paid his visits. Steven did so much as barely poke at the homemade salad her mother had prepared for him. He insisted that he wasn't hungry, and out of instinct he apparently bubbled the entire plate and sent it back home. Neither Connie nor her mother was thrilled by the action, Connie being mostly concerned as she wrung her hands in her own lap.

Of course, he apologized profusely for doing that out of habit. Connie forgave him, as what else would she do in this situation? 

Shortly after everyone else finished their meals, a soft  _ ping  _ sounded from Steven's pocket. He looked over at Connie, and she sighed.  _ He didn't need permission from her to check his phone. _ Taking that as a yes anyways, he fished his phone out of his jeans pocket to check his notification. Something in his expression shifted to that of an obvious frown. The teenager hopped up from his chair and hastily shoved it in.

"Something came up at home again. Gem stuff, what can you do?" He excused himself with a grin that Connie could instantly point out as faked.

"Steven, wait!" Connie herself got up and took a step after him, but he had already made it to the door.

"O-oh! S-Sorry Connie!" Steven stammered and turned back to face her parents. "Thank you all for the food, I promise I'll eat later when this is handled." He dipped his head slightly and opened the door. "I'll hang out again some other time. I-uh don't know when though, so sorry again Connie, bye!" His fake smile held up, and he walked out the door as fast as he possibly could.

"Hold on, you don't have-" The door shut behind him with a click. She contemplated walking out after him, but the telltale sounds of him starting up the Dondai rumbled throughout the house before he sped down the road. "your jacket…" She sighed in defeat.

"Connie…?" Her mom had started to talk, but Connie just smiled at her.

"It's okay! You know how busy he is being an intergalactic politician and all." She explained briefly. Her mom and dad shared an equal look of concern, but Connie was already walking back in the direction of her room. That's where he had left his jacket last.

_ His jacket.. _

That gave her an idea.

Without a second to waste, she crashed into her room with a genuine, yet smug grin as she spotted the pink varsity jacket splayed across her bed. He really  _ did  _ leave it here in his rush to leave.

Connie snatched the jacket up off of her bed and put it on as fast as humanly possible. Her hands swiped her phone off of her desk next, and she pulled up the camera. She stuck out her tongue and held up a cheesy peace sign with her free hand before her phone took a picture with a snap. 

Right after that, she opened her messages with Steven, sent the photo, and started talking away at her keyboard.

_ [Image sent] _

_ Whoops. Guess my favorite person will have to stop by tomorrow after all. _

_ Don't worry, I'll keep your jacket safe for you until then <3 _

**Author's Note:**

> With all of the recent Connverse angst floating in the fandom, I've decided to take my shot at writing a fluff fic.
> 
> Side note that I have literally never written just fluff before so it's a hit and a miss with this


End file.
